Automobile jug



July 23, 1968 J. P. .CANNON ETAL. 3,393,846

AUTOMOBILE JUG Filed May 3. 1967 INVENTOR5 dam? 1 64/7000 0 G flege/rfe/aefl y M %,m

'ITORNEY5 United States Patent( 3,393,846 AUTOMOBILE .IUG John P. Cannon, Shawnee Mission, Kans., and Roy C. Degenfelder, Independence, Mo., assignors to Plattner Industries, Inc., North Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed May 3, 1967, Ser. No. 635,778 '5 Claims. (Cl. 22442.42)

. ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A portable beverage container for use in motor vehicles has a concave bottom and is provided with four legs which are shiftable between extended and retracted positions. Each leg has a pair of feet facing in diverging directions, each foot being provided with a number of projections that engage and grip a drive shaft hump when the container is placed thereon. The dual foot arrangement in conjunction with the various possible ex tended positions of the legs adapt the container for support by humps of varying contour and size.

During long road trips, the traveler may desire to carry a portable beverage container in the passenger compartment of the vehicle to avoid frequent stops for refreshment. The usual thermos jug or similar container, however, is inconvenient to handle and locate within the compartment since, if placed on the floorboard, the jug may interfere with the feet of the occupants of the vehicle.

Alternatively, if the jug is carried in one of the seats, it

necessarily also interferes with passenger comfort as well as subjecting the seat to the water or other beverage which may drip or spill as it is drawn from the jug.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide a beverage container for motor vehicles that may be stably supported by the drive shaft hump on the fioorboard in order to preclude interference of the container with the comfort of the vehicle occupants.

As a corollary to the foregoing object, it is an important aim of the instant invention to provide such a container that will remain in place on the hump when subjected to the movements of the vehicle experienced under normal driving conditions.

Another important object is to provide a container as aforesaid having retractable legs which, when extended, serve to grip the surface of the hump to preclude displacement of the container and, when retracted, permit use of the container without interference from the legs.

Still another object of the invention is to provide legs for the container as aforesaid which are selectively positionable in accordance with the contour of the drive shaft hump so as to accommodate humps of various sizes and contours.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide each of the aforesaid container supporting legs with humpgripping feet facing in diverging directions, in order to increase the range of hump sizes and contours that may be accommodated by the legs.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the container looking longitudinally of the drive shaft hump (shown in phantom lines), a portion of the container being broken away to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the container;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view showing one of the legs retracted;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing a retracted leg reversed in orientation with respect to the previously illustrated legs; and

See

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view through one of the corners of the container formed by the bottom and the sidewall thereof, looking substantially in the same direction as in FIG. 2.

The container comprises a vessel 10 provided with legs 12, the latter being secured to the sidewall 14 of vessel 10 adjacent the concave bottom 16 thereof. Vessel 10 is of double-wall construction to provide an air space between sidewall 14 and an inner wall 18. The space may be filled with an insulating material if desired. Vessel 10 is filled through an inlet 20 by removing a cap 22. The beverage is drawn from vessel 10 through a valved outlet in the form of a spigot 24.

Bottom 16 is of generally rectangular configuration and presents four corners 26 which are rounded and merge with the lower periphery of sidewall 14. The sidewall 14 is recessed at 28 adjacent each corner 26 and is fitted with a tapped rivet 30 (FIG. 5). Each leg 12 has a longitudinal slot 32 therein at its normally'uppermost end, a screw 34 being received by slot 32 and threaded into rivet 30.

The normally lowermost end of each leg 12 is provided with a pair of angularly disposed feet 36, each provided with a plurality of generally cone-shaped projections 38. Bottom 16 has a well 40 formed therein adjacent each leg 12 for receiving the feet 36 thereof upon movement of the leg from the extended position shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, to the retracted position illustrated in FIG. 3. With all four of the legs 12 retracted, the container may be placed on a flat surface such as a table without scarring the latter, since only the two straight side margins of bottom 16 will be in contact with the surface. The feet 36, therefore, are effectively housed within wells 40 and the cavity formed by the concave bottom 16.

The concavity of bottom 16 is also useful in providing a low profile for the container when mounted on a drive shaft hump 42 illustrated in phantom lines in FIG. 1. The broken line illustrations of legs 12 illustrate the mounting of the container on a drive shaft hump 42a having a broader contour or greater radius than hump 42. The phantom illustrations of humps 42 and 42a represent the upper surfaces of such humps and show the transverse, convex contour of each hump. In FIGURE 1 the viewer looks in the longitudinal direction of humps 42 and 42a or generally axially of the drive shaft (not shown) fore or aft of the vehicle.

In use, screws 34 are loosened to permit adjustment of the extended positions of legs 12, the loosened screws 34 permitting swinging movement of the legs about screws 34 and longitudinal shifting thereof within the limits of slots 32. Thus, each leg may be independently set in any one of a number of extended positions de pending upon the contour of the particular hump upon which the container is to rest. The projections 38 on feet 36 firmly grip the surface of the hump, such surface normally being presented by a rug or mat overlying the floorboard and drive shaft housing. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the angular disposition of the two feet 36 on each leg 12 permits the legs to be positioned with either the inside or the outside feet 36 thereof in gripping engagement with the hump, again depending upon the particular surface contour.

The reversed orientation of the leg 12 shown in FIG. 4 further illustrates the versatility of the leg arrangement. .Note that the hump-gripping projections 38 on the downwardly facing foot 36 would now engage the surface of a hump having a contour approximately complementary to the concavity formed by bottom 16. However, the container could still be placed on a flat surface without scarring or scratching the latter. To facilitate movement of legs 12 to the various possible positions thereof, the

kerf-headed screws may be replaced by wing bolts if desired.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. For use with a motor vehicle having a transversely convex drive shaft hump extending fore and aft of the vehicle, a liquid container comprising:

a vessel having an inlet provided with a cap, a valved outlet, and a bottom;

a pair of spaced legs adjacent said bottom secured to said vessel and having gripper means thereon engageable with said hump, whereby the container may be placed on the hump, straddling the latter, and thereby supported by the hump with said outlet accessible to occupants of the vehicle;

and means mounting each of said legs for movement between a retracted position and an extended, humpengaging position depending from said vessel;

said bottom having a well therein for each leg respectively for receiving the latter when the leg is in the retracted position thereof.

2. For use with a motor vehicle having a transversely convex drive shaft hump extending fore and aft of the vehicle, a liquid container comprising:

a vessel having an inlet provided with a cap, a valved outlet, and a bottom;

a pair of spaced legs adjacent said bottom secured to said vessel and having gripper means thereon engageable with said hump, whereby the container may be placed on the hump, straddling the latter, and thereby supported by the hump with said outlet accessible to occupants of the vehicle;

and means mounting each of said legs for movement between a retracted position and any one of a number of extended, hump-engaging positions depending from said vessel, and including structure engaging each leg respectively for releasably maintaining the latter in a selected position independently of the other leg,

each of said legs having a pair of feet provided with said gripper means and facing outwardly in diverging directions when the leg is extended, whereby to accommodate a wide range of hump sizes.

3. The invention of claim 2,

each of said legs having a pair of opposed ends, one of said ends being provided with said feet thereof,

said bottom having a well therein for each leg respectively for receiving the feet thereof when the leg is in its retracted position,

said mounting means securing the other of said ends of the legs to said vessel for swinging movement of each leg between its retracted and extended positions, and for longitudinal shifting of each leg toward and away from said vessel.

4. The invention of claim 2,

each of said structures being operable to permit detachment of the corresponding leg from the vessel and re-attachment thereto with the feet of the leg in reversed orientation,

said bottom being concave and having two pairs of opposed margins,

said concavity extending between one of said pairs of margins,

each of said legs being disposed adjacent a corresponding margin of said one pair,

said gripper means comprising a plurality of projections on each of said feet,

the projections of one foot of each leg, when the latter is retracted and attached to the vessel with the feet thereof in said reversed orientation, extending downwardly for engagement with said hump.

5. For use with a motor vehicle having a transversely convex drive shaft hump extending fore and aft of the vehicle, a liquid container comprising:

a vessel having an inlet provided with a cap, a valved outlet, and a bottom;

a pair of spaced legs adjacent said bottom secured to said vessel and having gripper means thereon engageable with said hump, whereby the container may be placed on the hump, straddling the latter, and thereby supported by the hump with said outlet accessible to occupants of the vehicle;

said bottom being polygonal and presenting four corners,

said vessel having a sidewall extending upwardly from said bottom,

there being four of said legs; and

means mounting each of said legs on said sidewall adjacent a corresponding corner for movement between a retracted position and any one of a number of extended, hump-engaging positions depending from said vessel, and including structure engaging each leg respectively for releasably maintaining the latter in a selected position independently of the other legs,

said bottom being concave, the concavity extending between one pair of said corners and the other pair thereof,

each of said legs having a pair of feet provided with said gripper means and facing outwardly in diverging directions when the leg is extended,

said bottom having a well therein for each leg respectively for receiving the feet thereof when the leg is in its retracted position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,973,226 9/1934 Rose et a1. 248188.9 2,663,472 12/1953 Belgau 22442.l 2,899,162 8/1959 Young. 3,002,665 10/1961 Allen 224-42.42 3,271,075 9/1966 Good 297-439 3,291,353 12/1966 Sobczak 22442.42

ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner.

R. I. SPAR, Assistant Examiner. 

